I'm making a middle aged Inquisitor that's not overly healthy (represented by a con score of 6 [-2 modifier]) and am looking for advice on how to build around his lack of hit points / fort saves.
He will basically be the face of the party with his high wis and cha and I'm almost 100% sure i'll be grabbing the Infiltrator archetype to combine wis and cha for diplomacy and bluff checks.
Basically, the questions are:
1) What archetypes / domains / inquisitions / feats do you recommend to help him stay up in combat / do his job better?
2) At the moment i'm gravitating towards stacking either the Monster Tactician or Sacred Huntsmaster with infiltrator to make use of the extra body getting in the way during combat. Are either of these any good?
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I think Sacred Huntsmaster is a really good idea. Be an archer, and you can go Wounded Paw Gambit with him. That should generally keep you well enough away from melee. I'd also put 3 ranks in Acrobatics so you can switch to melee and fight defensively in a pinch.
Even as a backliner, with so little CON, you really need to be up on your AC game. If you're going Archer anyway, that probably means mithral chain shirts, perhaps switching to Celestial Armor in high level play. That should give you a decent mix of touch/flat-footed, and considering how many Fort save effects are touch attacks, you'll be glad for that.
If there's any way an Inquisitor can use mirror image, it's worth pursuing. Similarly, displacement, shield, shield of faith, and even blur or fog spells can dramatically increase your survivability.
I'd also recommend carrying a lot of antitoxins and antiplagues, investing heavily in a Cloak of Resistance and Pale Green Cracked Ioun Stone, and potentially going Orc/Sacred Tattoo/Fate's Favored.
Here's some more information on this very topic.
The table linked here has AC benchmarks by character level. You'll want to be at or near the Blue number for whatever level you're at. By level 10, a 33 buffed AC is a good target for a 6 CON archer, for example.
Acrobatics doesn't sound like the most plausible for a sickly old middle aged man.
The toughness fear will give you increased without negating the premise.
Have you considered firearms or crossbows as ranged weapon, neither require high strength.
Maybe not reduce the Con so dramtically. Look at the penalties for aging in the core book for ideas.
It reminds me of The Blade Itself.
Acrobatics doesn't sound like the most plausible for a sickly old middle aged man.
Agreed (though I wouldn't call him "old"!), in total contrast to this idea I was actually planning on spending a feat on Heavy armor, having him as a charming but grizzled knight kind of character in appearance. That and a shield should help my AC game at least.
Leave all that jumping around to the younger generation. I mean the middle aged modifiers reducing dex by 1 hardly makes ranged weapons the ideal route anyway, and i have spells to keep me busy at the backlines.
Maybe not reduce the Con so dramtically. Look at the penalties for aging in the core book for ideas.
Alas, that's the challenge i'm setting!
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Edit: here's the level one stats ive currently got planned, if anyone's interested:
Total Ability score after mods @lvl1 (15 point buy):
10 ------ (-1 age mod)
12 ------ (-1 age mod)
6 ------- (-1 age mod)
12 ------ (+1 age mod)
18 ------ (+2) (+1 age mod)
18 ------ (+2) (+1 age mod)
I'm happy to switch str and int of course.
1) What archetypes / domains / inquisitions / feats do you recommend to help him stay up in combat / do his job better?
2) At the moment i'm gravitating towards stacking either the Monster Tactician or Sacred Huntsmaster with infiltrator to make use of the extra body getting in the way during combat. Are either of these any good?
Ok, well i'll start brainstorming ideas:
Persistence Inquisition
Bonus: You receive Step Up as a bonus feat. -Worthless on its own, but it qualifies you for coordinated reposition, meaning another escape from melee characters and the teamwork feat gets shared with your animal companion if you're a Sacred Huntsmaster or your summoned creatures if Monster Tactician!
Relentless Footing (Ex): Adding movement to help make up for wearing plate, could be useful for the odd moments you need movement.
Inner Strength (Su): Adding self heals can't be bad, right?
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Edit: Zeal Inquisition gives you a heal when reduced to 0, seems pretty weak at later levels though...
Abusing movement through coordinated reposition or escape route and preventing charges through intercept charge seems to be a good way of pissing off melee enemies. Not sure how worth it the feat investments are though... at least they're teamwork feats.
Lookout could be alright too. maybe situationally extend the bulwark could be ok for making my animal companion untouchable for a turn, i mean, what animal companion wouldnt want the benefits of full plate?
Edit: pack attack seems good too, how am i supposed to decide?!
Edit 2: pack flanking + reach weapon = hide behind pet and it counts as flanking?
If he's focusing on spellcasting, the Sanctified Slayer archetype (which stacks with Infiltrator), gives you Studied Target as a slayer. The cool part is that it increases DCs of your class features... such as spells!
Is he human? If so, I think Heavy Armor Proficiency and Toughness are good first level feat choices to keep survivability up.
Since you'll die at -6 HP, anything to increase your HP or reduce your chance of getting crit is going to help. Toughness, as mentioned, in addition to using your FCB to add +1 HP.
If your GM allows, you might look into the Shamed (Story) or Arisen (Story) feats.
When you can get one, Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier could be helpful.
pack flanking + reach weapon = hide behind pet and it counts as flanking?
I believe it would count as flanking, but keep in mind that your opponent will also have soft cover (+4 AC) from your attack. The net gain will be -2 to hit.
I believe it would count as flanking, but keep in mind that your opponent will also have soft cover (+4 AC) from your attack. The net gain will be -2 to hit.
Ah that's fine, if im behidn my familiar it can attack with flanking bonus and I can buff it with spells during my turn or buff my allies.
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Honestly, with those tanked physical stats, but 18 Wis and Cha, it seems like you'd be much better off as a Cleric in full-plate than Inquisitor. You're always going to be a terrible martial character, but that doesn't matter if you're casting spells every round. With the animal domain, you can even have the companion. Deception would be good too, as you would get mirror image at lvl 3.
EDIT: There is actually one super effective martial pseudo-Inquisitor build I can think of, though you'd need to get your GM's approval for a guided amulet of the mighty fists. Basically, you go Monk/Paladin and get your Wisdom to attack, damage, AC, + your CHA to saves, and when smiting to your attack and AC. You can even get CHA to initiative...there's a lot of shenanigans you could pull with that.
Honestly, with those tanked physical stats, but 18 Wis and Cha, it seems like you'd be much better off as a Cleric in full-plate than Inquisitor. You're always going to be a terrible martial character, but that doesn't matter if you're casting spells every round. With the animal domain, you can even have the companion. Deception would be good too, as you would get mirror image at lvl 3.
EDIT: There is actually one super effective martial pseudo-Inquisitor build I can think of, though you'd need to get your GM's approval for a guided amulet of the mighty fists. Basically, you go Monk/Paladin and get your Wisdom to attack, damage, AC, + your CHA to saves, and when smiting to your attack and AC. You can even get CHA to initiative...there's a lot of shenanigans you could pull with that.
Aye, thanks for the suggestions, i've started to build a bit more of a balanced character after all, focusing on teamwork feats and summoning hordes of creatures that benefit due to the monster tactician abilities. I'll definitely return to the idea of playing a careful frail character at some point, or maybe ill work the idea into one of my new builds! :)